What fascinates me is how the heads of the world's biggest businesses lead their companies and deal with the personal and business pressures of being at the top. I have been a business journalist for 23 years, including working in London and New York as Associate City Editor of The Daily Telegraph. Freelance for nine years, I specialise in interviews with chief executives and other major business figures. Chairmen and CEOs interviewed include Larry Ellison of Oracle, John Chambers of Cisco Systems, Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, Lakshmi Mittal of Arcelor Mittal, Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, Sir Andrew Witty of GlaxoSmithkline and Oleg Deripaska of Rusal. I also interviewed 200 CEOs for a bestselling book called The Secrets of CEOs and have a second book out in November 2014. You can read my interviews at Andrewcave.biz

10 Leadership Lessons From Manchester United's Hiring And Firing Of David Moyes

1. Don’t change the two most important people in the organisation at the same time

Sir Alex Ferguson had been manager of Manchester United for 27 years and David Gill had racked up a decade as chief executive when the duo stepped down last summer. For manager and chief executive at a football club, read chief executive and chairman at a publicly listed company. Allowing both to leave at the same time is dangerous, particularly when their combined leadership has been so successful. Where was the succession planning that didn’t let that happen? And what happened to the board’s oversight of the career decisions of its two most important executives? How many companies have lost their chairman and chief executive at exactly the same time and replaced both with great success?

David Moyes (AP Photo/Clint Hughes)

2. Don’t let the last business leader choose the next one.

Sir Alex Ferguson imposed what some observers have described as a “Stalin-like grip” on Manchester United during his 27 years in charge. Very little, it is said, happened without either his direct say-so or tacit approval. But allowing the man who has had a stand named after him and a statue erected at the club’s Old Trafford stadium to effectively nominate his replacement as manager brought personal emotion, ego and self-interest into the succession, when it should have been a rational, well thought-out collective board decision. Who on the board would have dared to shoot down the suggestion of the club’s most successful manager ever? Ferguson was allowed to become much too important during his reign at the top. How many departing chief executives are allowed to select their successors?

3. Groom successors from within when you have a winning team

Ferguson’s biggest failing perhaps was not grooming a potential successor. Maybe that’s a pitfall of having a domineering, win-at-all-costs personality. But some of the most successful leadership at winning companies has taken more of a team-based approach, generating a cadre of capable lieutenants who have gone on to follow them as well as taking the helm at other companies. Groups including Procter & GambleProcter & Gamble, Dixons, Asda and the former menswear chain Burtons have served as prodigious academies of management talent. And in English football three of the 19 other managers in the Premier League served as players and/or backroom staff under Ferguson, demonstrating that the talent to groom at hand was indeed available.

4. Keep the most important support staff intact when the top jobs change

David Moyes entered the lions’ den when he took the manager’s job at Manchester United. The previous manager had won everything there was to win in a glittering career; the top players’ medal cabinets were stuffed full too. Having never won a major trophy himself as a manager, he had an instant credibility gap and needed wise heads around him who had the benefit of having been around in the glory years. Instead, he replaced the entire top coaching staff, bringing in the team that had served him at Everton. While this might have been seen as asserting his authority at the time, it left Moyes unsupported within the club and deprived the club of vital experience, know-how and continuity.

5. Appoint someone big enough for the job

Moyes has never won a major trophy as a football manager and yet he was expected to deliver more or less instantly at a club whose previous manager had won 13 English Premier League titles and two European Champions Leagues. As if this was not mission impossible, his body language, demeanour and communications with the media suggested almost from the outset that he did not feel that he was up to the task.

6. Get the cultural fit right

The history of an organisation is an irrevocable part of what it is. It is almost impossible to imagine AppleApple as a company full of conformists or General ElectricGeneral Electric as recklessly-managed. Similarly in football, Manchester United’s history and reputation is as a dynamic and romantic team full of derring-do, adventure and attacking style. From the youthful exuberance of the “Busby Babes” in the 1950s to the swagger and pomp of Best, Charlton and Law in their prime, the club has developed a “United way”. Ferguson, a self-confessed sporting gambler, stuck to those principles. However, while Moyes spoke about a strong youth policy and the club’s fine reputation for attacking football, his actions and strategies did not match his words.

7. Manage the management’s communication

Moyes had no choice but to take the microphone after every defeat – the broadcasting contracts governing English Premier League football stipulate that the team managers are interviewed after every game. Moyes, following a master media manipulator in Ferguson, could not be expected to have his predecessor’s touch in this department. Honest and decent in his public utterances, he nonetheless needed support from his backroom staff and senior players and directors. The club’s media team could have taken a much more active role in protecting Moyes, presenting a collective front and showing support to a manager who was always going to have a tricky first year in following a legend.

8. Be decisive. Know when it’s the right time to stop the rot.

Prior to Moyes’s departure, United had a reputation for giving managers time to build teams, in contrast to some of the rapid firings seen at other top teams in the UK and Europe. Yet, it was clear that Moyes had lost the dressing room, while his comments after the team’s final performance under his management demonstrated that he didn’t have the long-term vision required.

9. Don’t let the news leak

Once the decision is made, make the announcement. Some of the momentum gained from the decisiveness United’s owners showed with their judgment that enough was enough was lost by widespread reports the day before that made Moyes’ sacking the worst-kept secret in British football. Nearly all Britain’s national newspapers led their sports pages with the news that Moyes was to be sacked, before it had been announced. While United’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange governs the timing of price-sensitive news, the leaking of the dismissal led to speculation about compensation, replacements and club strategy, when the focus could have been on a new beginning.

10. Have a credible new plan.

When an instant fix is neither credible nor desirable, at least have a plan, a process and steady temporary leadership. Appointing Ryan Giggs, United’s most decorated player in the club’s history, to take charge on a temporary basis, restores some respect to the fallen champions. Giggs is adored by fans, respected by the players and hugely liked by the sports media. With so much of the past leadership having departed, his is an obvious temporary appointment to try to arrest the team’s slide and provide some stability. Few companies, however, are likely to have somebody with his attributes waiting ready in the wings.

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I totally disagreed with you in the first five points. All the points raised cannot be proved with time. They are just the ideal situation every will dear to have. If you check through history of success stories you will find you had it wrong. Look at the success story of LFC when Bill Shankly was leaving the team he appointed his successor Bob Pearsly who went to win most medals than the legend himself. Also when Pearsly finish his assignment Kenny Dalglish took over and did a credible feats. So u see where you had it wrong in this sense. Dalglish never choose his successor and it had cost LFC 24 years to return to their glory.

We don’t disagree too much. Bob Paisley was a product of Liverpool’s famous boot room and was effectively groomed to take over from Shankley – exactly the kind of evolution that Ferguson could have fostered, if he had chosen to. It’s more than simply a Ferguson thing, however. The board should have been encouraging a boot room culture of this kind. Ultimately, Paisley was the Liverpool board’s appointment but he was already an insider. Ferguson chose to run to the finish without grooming anyone and then made a recommendation for an outsider – always a risky thing to do, particularly when the choice is someone with no track record of trophy success.

Excellent write-up for a business! Man U is indeed a business. Mouse made several mistakes, chief of which was firing the existing management team & replacing them with his band from Everton. That singular action cost him dearly & obliterated whatever support he might have secured from the beginning.

However, the legendary Alex Ferguson is as much to blame as Moyes – Ferguson it was, who ‘imposed’ ( oops ) selected Moyes as his replacement. We’re he not as successful as he has been, he would have been berated & excoriated by the British press & the football loving public!

I think many of the points mentioned here are based on this specific example rather than businesses in general. I found only point 1,6,9,10 most apt. Point 2: Even with DM’s case, it is too soon to tell if he would have been a success or not. Even fergie struggled in his initial days without the right set of players under him. We would never know if he will be a success in the long term. Point 3: Not feasible in football world, since most managerial assistants move on to manage other clubs after a few years. It would be unwise to wait for the day the manager quits. point 4: This varies on situations. As per point 6, every manager has his own style and therefore would like to have the coaching staff that can effectively coach to that style of play. point 5: Big or small is relative. People with big titles from big clubs have often proved to be as successful as the previous guy with less experience. All it takes is a good leader who can be appreciated by all the staff. point 7: this was actually Moyes’s strong point. Many appreciate his honesty and integrity who does not resort to slander and blame-game for each loss. point 8: This is the problem with current day management. You cannot say the manager is the only cause for the problem when it is clear that many players have also performed poorly. And the quick hire and fire people tends to bring people who are not actually loyal to the club/company.

An interesting – and obviously contentious – piece. Many of the lessons here are valid and should be heeded by non-sports businesses. It is also true – as one comment points out – that hindsight is a wonderful thing. There were not too many dissenting voices when Moyes was appointed last May. Nor when he was collecting awards from every corner were many people pointing out that Ferguson had not left much of a legacy for his chosen successor. Perhaps Ferguson himself will offer insights in his Harvard classes. In the meantime, the less tribal football fans have enjoyed a fascinating season and United fans can console themselves that Liverpool’s ascent proves that seventh place is not the end of the world.

I love this post. All this drama was played out in full view on the Pitch !!! You can’t get this from an MBA class. My best points Nos. 2 and 5. This is actually one of the toughest challenges faced by companies…baton changes and great expectations.